Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-09-16
A TALK ABOUT PARROTS.
The Best Varieties and How To Take
Care of Them-Overfed Birds.

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are good parrots and bad parrots, Just as
there are good children and bad children.
The bad parrot is one which has not for
gotten the harsh, discordant screams Of
parrot language in the tropical forests
and indulges in them throughout the
l~iyelong day. He is also the possessor of
a limited vocabulary Of the ''Polly wants
a cracker" style, whose endless reitera-
ton is even more aggravatingly annoy
ing than his natural screeching and chat
tering. A bird like this in the early
morning can make the seeker for an ex-
ira nap believe that 90, 900 parrots is too
small an estimate of the city's parrot
population.
The screeching nuisance al be dis
couraged and ultimately reformed by
judiciously administering punishments.
The vocabulary can be extended and
made interesting by careful training, and
some melodious and tuneful whistling
may be taught by a pleasant adjunct to
the spoken word. Then the bad parrot
having become good, hard feelings will
disappear from the neighborhood. The
reason there are so few good parrots is
found in the great mortality among
these birds. While in the process of ref
ormation and education they die in such
great numbers that a steady stream Of
recruits is necessarily kept coming into
the country. The result is to keep down
the proportion of good parrots, birds that
can talk considerably, swear intelligently,
sing something and whistle tunes.
A reporter had his attention attracted
by a fine parrot in front Of jefferson
market the other day. Stopping to look
at it his thoughts reverted to the appal-
ling death rate among parrots, and he
was plying the pretty fellow when the
latter suddenly perked his head sideways
with the question, whats the matter
with you, hey?" followed by a burst Of
uproarious laughter. The owner Of the
parrot, John Morris, the florist, was for
years a bird f~ancier, though he does not
now keep birds for sale. Mr.. Morris
talked entertainingly.
Sam is a very smart Bird" said he.
al call him Sam for short. His full name
is Samuel ]. Randall. When you are
disposed TO pity Sam on account of any
impression on your part that he is in any
danger of losing his excellent health, you
are away off. | have three other parrots
in just as good shape. 1t is the effect of
their care and diet. They get no bread,
no coffee, no fruit. no vegetables, no
hemp seed. and especially no meat. They
do get plenty of good, plain canary seed,
water, and a liberal supply Of sand and
gravel. Two-thirds of the mortality
among parrots comes from overfeed-
ing. Some years & | came TO this
conclusion, The birds that came to me,
sick and feverish, with ragged, dull and
dirty plumage, were so evidently suffer-
ing from dyspepsia that overlooking was
the first thought as to the cause. In
their confined state, having little or no
exercise. they suffer if they are stuffed
with rich. heavy food.
II occurred to mt that canary seed
contained all the necessary elements Of
nourishment in a simple, easily digeStible
form. / determined TO make the expert
ment. A sick parrot that was brought
in to me was chosen as a promising sub
ject. He had suffered from dyspepsia
for months, and was a miserable looking
bird, that seemed bound to die anyway.
! thought he might as well die testing my
treatment as to perish in the old fash
toned way Of being stuffed TO death. /
put him in a clean cage and for twenty
four hours put no food of any kind in the
cups. Then | put in a little hemp seed,
so that the bird would neither starve nor
get enough to eat. The hemp seed lasted
only a part of the day. and the next
morning ! put in some canary seed.
When the hemp seed was gone that day
the bird began picking at and playing
with the canary seed. In a day or two
hehad learned TO crack and eat it. Then
/ gradually lessened the quantity of hemp
seed. and after a while supplied nothing
but the canary seed.
Old bird fanciers shook their heads and
said the bird could not live on canary
seed alone, and that ! was bound to lose
him. But / persevered, and the result
justified me. The bird steadily improved
in condition and plumagc. j have since
repeated the treatment many times with
the same success, and have adopted ca
nary seed as the standard and sole food
for my parrots. Several fanciers and
ladies who have seen my birds tried it,
too, and / tell you of it for the benefit of
the public"
do parrots have to be kept in a very
warm temperature
That is the popular belief, but my
experience has been that parrots can bt
made capable of enduring as much cold
a any other bird"
what is your opinion as 10 the merits
Of the different breeds?"
There are individual exceptions, but
/ think the Mexican double yellow head
is the best all round bird. He is apt tc
be good tempered, and can be taught Il
talk well, sing well. and whistles nicely.
The African gray, with red tail feathers,
talks well and whistles, but rarely sings.
These birds die in great numbers either
on the voyage or soon after their impor-
tation, a result largely due, ! think, tc
their feeding. They get soaked bread,
bread and milk. crackers, and coffee and
cracked corn. II they were trained tc
eat canary seed before shipment nine
tenths Of the consignments would com'
through all right and keep In good condi
ton afterward. African parrots are les
excitable than those from our tropical re
gions, and are more easily domesticate'
and become more attached 10 their own
ers.
THE Brazilian Yellow Neck, or Colder
Nape, is also a magnificent specimen O
the talking parrot, but he is excitable ant
nervous. His voice Is full and human
like, but he does not learn readily an,
never has much of a vocabulary. Tn
SinOl0 Xelloy Head a Cantral Amprical